Library

The library is a popular hub of school activities and has a lot of potential for the enrichment of the students. There is a lot of scope for introducing fun activities that can be conducted in an informal manner, at the same time imparting information and building various skills among the students. Std 1 to Std 8 has two library classes per week. One is a regular library class and the other is an English Library Class. During the regular library classes, students exchange their library books and are also allowed to do reference work. During the reading sessions, students are asked to either read out the facts that are important or submit a write up on it. Students are also engaged in activities (on educational topics) such as preparing charts on facts. Standards 9 and Std 10 have one period per week.

The following is a list of activities that have been and are presently being conducted in the library:

Activities being conducted at present- Dumb charades relating to idioms (builds vocabulary skills)- Picking children from different states of India/ countries and giving them time to collect information about their place of origin so they can share such information with the rest of the group. (builds speaking skills)- Giving newspapers to groups of children, having a game by reading out certain headlines which the children have to find on the paper. This familiarizes them with the different sections on the paper. (develops reading of newspapers and knowledge of their importance)- Groups of children preparing their own mock newspaper after briefing them on headlines and sub-headlines, advertisements, classifieds, etc. (develops reporting of information)- Children pick up books of their choice and critically analyse them by writing down what they would have done with the plot, characters, etc. (develops critical thinking)- Children are chosen house-wise to arrange books on the library shelves. (develops knowledge of the library layout)- Word games like building words from a set of letters (develops vocabulary skills)- Comic strips given in a jumbled order, to be arranged in sequence, and the story to be completed by the children. (develops sequencing of information and writing skills)- Students are given the beginning of the story and are asked to proceed with a story of their own imagination. (This helps in building imagination)

This year, too, we have new ideas on how to utilize the library resources in the best way possible. The following is a list of new ventures introduced in the library:

New Ventures

Young Buzz: (Newspaper in Education) every child (std 5 - 9) gets a copy of the weekly newspaper, which was launched by ‘Sakaal Times' . The initiative has been received with great enthusiasm by the students and their parents. Besides providing them with interesting and student relevant articles to read, the children are now keen to contribute articles, poems, drawings etc. to the paper.

Every student will be asked to bring their copy of Young Buzz and solve one activity in the library together.

Hindi Library: Students are given Hindi books and asked to read and pick up difficult words and then search for the meaning with the help of the Hindi teacher, subsequently forming sentences. They are also given Hindi newspapers. They are supposed to read it thoroughly and write their report on any headline. - Charts: Students are told to create a chart on any upcoming events or festivals and put up the chart in the library thus sharing knowledge and skill.

Sunapranth: Secondary Library has been receiving few copies of the Konkani Paper Sunapranth everyday (enhancing the importance of Goan language).

It is always a challenge to come up with new activities that will engage the interest of the students, but the library will continue to meet this challenge, improvising on current activities and introducing new activities as the need arises.